OLYW - Canada and Australia grab last Group B places

LONDON (Olympics) - With France and Russia already safely through to the second round, victories by Australia and Canada completed the field of quarter-finalists from Group B. All subsequent games will be for position (and bracket pairings) while Brazil and Great Britain will face off for fifth.

Previous games meant that almost all intrigue lay in Canada’s game with Brazil.

The North Americans came out the faster and the stronger, building up a lead that peaked at 14 at halftime.

Whatever coach Luis Tarallo said during the interval worked. Erika de Souza (22 points) led a 10-point Brazilian scoring run to bring them within just one.

They even took the lead – albeit briefly – early in the fourth.

Clarissa Dos Santos (21 points) led the charge in the final frame, but the Brazilians were lacking in support play, especially that of Karla Costa (3).

Pressured to shoot exclusively from long range, Costa – who entered the game with a perfect record from beyond the arc range – shot one from eight.

Canada on the other hand, offered a variety of offensive play. They also capitalised on some excellent free-throw shooting.

Succeeding on eight out of 10 fourth quarter trips to the line, the Canadians booked their place in the knock-out round with a 79-73 win.

"It's an amazing feeling. We have a good mix of veterans and younger players,” said veteran Teresa Gabriele.

“We've come together in the past couple of years. We've grown a lot."

They had five players in double digits, with Shona Thorburn and Courtnay Pilypaitis both scoring 14.

Russia suffered their first defeat of the tournament at the hands of Australia, whose frontcourt with Suzy Batkovic (15) and Liz Cambage (17) standing out in a game, where Lauren Jackson remained relatively quiet.

“Lauren’s a fantastic player and one of the world’s best, but we’ve also got some other great posts in Suzy Batkovic and Lizzie Cambage,” Belinda Snell said after the game.

And Cambage was indeed the talking point of the game when, midway through the third quarter, she made a play that will be seen over and over again in years to come.

With Australia on a transition break, Kristy Harrower fed the 2.03m centre, who surprisingly found herself all alone at the free-throw line.

She took one dribble before throwing down what has been recognised as the first dunk in women’s Olympic basketball history.

Her two successful free-throws in the final minute fended off a Russian comeback, rounding off a fine performance to bring the Opals home 70-66.

Great Britain, already eliminated by the time they came on court, once again proved they belonged among the field with a gutsy display against France.

Following agonisingly close defeats to the two second best teams in the world (Australia and Russia are tied), hosts looked like they would finally open their account.

They led France for much of the game, with Jo Leedham putting in a true captain’s performance with 27 points, the best in the tournament so far.

Third in that statistic is France’s Celine Dumerc (23 pts v Brazil), who would break British hearts with two dagger long-range efforts.

The first, to tie the game at 67 each with six seconds to play, and the second, in an almost identical position on the left side of the arc, to win the game in overtime (80-77).

“Actually I went on the left, because of Edwige (Lawson-Wade) our point guard,” Dumerc explained.

“I wanted to give it to her, but I saw that there was no help, so I decided to shoot.”

For the Group A review, click here.

FIBA